


Forging a New Blade

by HannahGallifrey



Series: Marmoran collection [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:07:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29190516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannahGallifrey/pseuds/HannahGallifrey
Summary: Long before Krolia found herself on an alien planet, she worked as a recruiter for the blade of marmora. this new class will be a special challenge...
Series: Marmoran collection [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143104
Kudos: 2





	1. Day One

Haxna stood among a group of 29 other cadets, all male. She was the smallest by far in the group of teens, though one or two nearly matched her for height. They stood rather loosely in rows and columns as they waited for the adults to come and give them their first orders as galran military students.  
Murmurs went through the group as three adults walked out, all with high ranks on their chests and each with a serious face. Haxna looked around the cadet in front of her and gasped. One of the adults was a woman! How unexpected.  
The bigger of the two males barked at them to form ranks and they straightened up into proper lines, six of five people deep. Then he crossed his arms behind his back, holding one wrist with the opposite hand, and addressed them, looking pointedly at the only girl at the beginning.  
“Not all of you will become officers. In fact, not all of you will make it through this academy at all. Don’t expect an easy course, and don’t expect pity when you wash out.” He turned to the man on his left as an uneasy shift went through the lines of newbies. “The Chief Medical Officer will give you all a physical, and then hand you off to the Quartermaster to get bunks assigned. After lunch, the Master at Arms--” He gestured to the woman with deep blue and magenta hair and a rat tail-- “Will collect you for your first lessons.”  
There was far more shock through the teens as the woman was identified as the Master at Arms, the person in charge of discipline and safety and most likely the most well-armed and highest trained person on the base. Was it true? Surely they were being tricked, and she was the Quartermaster, or a lunch lady or a nurse or something? The woman’s sharp eyes narrowed as she obviously heard the gist of the hushed whispers, and they quickly fell silent. Only one of them seemed excited to have such a woman in charge of them-- the tiny Haxna with her royal and navy hair. She had something like hero worship in her eyes. What sort of things would she learn? What would they start with? Obstacles? Survival? Guns? Knives?  
“MOVE, CADET!” The bark from the Medical Officer startled her back to reality and she rushed forward to rejoin the end of the line in front of her as they marched off.

Every cadet was given a physical and then assigned a bunk, all together in a big long room. Haxna herself got a top bunk above one of the mid-size, quiet boys she’d barely met. On each assigned bunk was a small set of training equipment and the first set of uniforms for them to scramble into before lunch. Haxna found she blended in a lot better once they all looked the same, as puberty had yet to strike and she was still flat-chested and rectangular in body like the boys. They went through the lunch line and sat down to stare at their trays in bemusement, horror, or some awful mix. “What is this stuff?” Came from several throats as sporks poked the greenish goo on the platters. There were soft chuckles from the other side of the huge mess hall as some older cadets watched the freshmen. Haxna scooped up a bite and let it plop back onto the plate. Well, food was food… She finally took a bite and managed to swallow it. Not bad. It didn’t really taste like anything, but not quite like nothing. Some couldn’t stomach how bland it was and soon got their portions swiped by the bigger boys. Haxna guarded hers until it was gone. 

Once most of them had eaten, a voice came from the doorway. “On your feet!” The group scrambled to get away from the benches at the tables. “And don’t leave your mess behind for someone else!”  
“What do we do with the plates?” One cadet griped, picking his up. “Eat them?”  
“Over there,” Haxna pointed to where she had watched the other cadets leave their trays. The group lined up and dropped off whatever remained of lunch and then filed out into the corridor to form ranks again, looking at who had called to them.  
“Get in your ranks and stay there, we’re headed outside. I need your eyes forward and hands at your sides or there will be consequences.” It was the woman from before, the Master at Arms, so they had been told. She wasn’t screaming, or yelling or spitting at them like the men had so far. She didn’t need to.  
Her relative quiet caused differing reactions through the group. Some cadets weren’t about to behave for a woman ever again now that their mama wasn’t around to keep them in line. Others were unjustly terrified of the stripe-cheeked lieutenant. How had she reached such a rank at what seemed to be a young age? Who had she managed to impress?...Who had she killed? Haxna, as before, was near the end of the line, and could best be described as being in a state of hero worship. Here was proof of her dreams! 

They walked out to a huge, relatively flat and barren field away from the main buildings of the base. The woman stopped and turned to face the line as it split back into a block of six by five. “This,” She gestured around them, “Is your proving ground from now on. Its perimeter is seven axue in length. We’re going to give it a proper greeting with eight laps--one for each count of insubordination from the mess hall to here.” She pointed with one arm. “Move!”  
Most of the cadets now looked horrified. 8 laps?! Of _seven_ axue _each_?! The first few started running and soon the majority had begun the slog. The troublemakers that had caused the punishment, though, were walking...in the opposite direction from what she had pointed out.  
The woman stood and watched, arms folded, not saying or doing anything to stop the rebellious group. She just watched as they kept walking and the main group kept running, growing closer with every tick, until exactly what she knew would happen, finally did. The running group caught up and essentially steamrollered the walking group, some managing to jump over the already downed forms and others simply knocking them over and trampling them underfoot as they kept running. They had seven more laps to endure, a speed bump wasn’t going to stop them. After the runners were gone, the three rebels decided they had better pick themselves up and at least start going the right direction.  
The master at arms watched as they continued to run the long and grueling laps, thinking hard. It was her duty to find those who could be turned against the empire, to fight for justice and freedom. Some classes went by with no good candidates, while others yielded several. Watching as they ran, she thought she could get at least two. Hopefully that girl was one of them. As she saw the last lap coming in, she paced to the middle of the field and used a command remote to raise a short platform in the center of the area.  
As the cadets all straggled to a stop to double over and pant, the woman’s voice rang out. “Pay attention, I’m only explaining this once.” They all looked up and she continued. “You’re earning your ranks today. From now until deployment you’ll be operating in teams of five, with one leader and one second in command. I’d suggest doing well in your trial if you don’t want to end up someone’s crony! Everyone line up on the platform!” She watched as the girl confidently strode forward first, only to be shoulder checked out of the way by several of the larger boys. One even grabbed her arm and shoved her to the ground in full view of everyone, making another of the bigger boys grab the back of his uniform. The girl, for her part, got up, gave the bully a swift punch in the stomach, then stood in line like nothing had happened.  
“Are we done, cadets?” The Master at Arms asked dryly, glaring at them. “I wasn’t finished. I’m giving you thirty ticks to get into a favorable position before you face each other. Last man standing earns the highest rank; no one dies today or we get to watch our own local kri xa kri, that had better be clear! Move!”  
What?! Without weapons?! Haxna was the third smallest cadet, now she’d gotten a closer look at everyone, and maybe only the second. She was fast, sure, but not as strong as any of the males. Without a weapon or nearly as much combat experience as the boys, she hardly stood a chance-- the thirty ticks were up.  
The small platform they were standing on, barely big enough for them, dissolved into complete chaos. One cadet tackled another off the edge almost immediately, disqualifying them both. Another three were thrown a moment later, and in no time the girl found herself in a miserable game of cat and mouse, being chased by a majority of the boys that wanted to be the one to make sure she couldn’t be a leader or a second in command. She had precious few options. Continuing to run away wouldn’t get her far, though they might give up and fight each other. She could jump off the platform herself and forfeit, but she would be branded a coward and that wasn’t the Galra way. No, she knew what to do. Snarling, she spun on her heel and took down two of her pursuers before the rest got to her. She remembered nothing more of the fight.  
When she woke a varga later, it was in the medical bay, and she was strapped down. A good thing, too, or she would have come up swinging. “What were you thinking, kit? The military is no place for girls, especially ones as small and skinny as you,” A nurse scolded.  
“Nothing broken, at least,” Commented another medic. “Patch her up and send her to dinner. She’s not that hurt so it’s not our say to send her home.” She gulped, then heard that voice again. She needed to learn her name.  
“Doctor? When you have a moment?”  
One of the medics stepped away to speak in lower tones. “You’re not seriously going to keep her? She’s going to get killed, lieutenant. You should send her away.”  
“Last time I checked, that was entirely my business. How are her injuries?”  
“Bruises and bumps. She’ll be stiff in the morning but otherwise fine. If she hadn’t gotten that uppercut to the jaw she probably would have kept fighting for a while is my guess.”  
“...Good. I’ll escort her to the mess hall. Thank you for your help.”  
They nodded, untied the cadet, and motioned for her to follow her superior. The girl was silent as they walked, looking at her curiously.  
“...What rank did I get?”  
The Master at Arms...smiled at her. “You wake up from a fall like that and your first concern is your rank? Have you even checked to make sure your teeth are all in place?”  
The girl snapped her teeth together a couple of times and then shrugged. “They’d grow back. I haven’t started teething yet, I’m too young. So what rank did I get, lieutenant…?” She still didn’t know her name, only her rank.  
“Krolia. And be patient, cadet. You’ll find out with the rest. I wouldn’t worry too much, in your shoes.”  
“That’s easy for you to say, you’re already a lieutenant and everyone has to respect you. All everyone wants to do is beat me up.”  
The woman just made a hum that sounded amused as they arrived at the mess hall. The kitchen was closed for the night, but the boy who had caught her bully earlier was waving his arm, an extra tray of goo in hand for her.  
Haxna quickly sat and started stuffing her face, mumbling a thank you through a full mouth. Once most of it was gone, she looked up and swallowed. “So...she hasn’t told anyone anything yet?”  
“No. Nothing.”  
“Hurxor was last standing though!”  
“Yeah and I’m gonna be his second in command!”  
“You didn’t even outlast the girl dude, shut up.” Each voice came from a different boy around the table, and Haxna sighed.  
“Didn’t she kind of imply that there would be six leaders of five person teams?” If that were the case, she stood a chance of being a second…  
“Well, yeah, but it’s different to be backing the strongest guy,” Pointed out the scrappy boy. “They’ll crush everybody!”  
“We’re not training for infighting, Selznek, get your head on straight.”  
“Maybe not,” Haxna mused, “But that probably is how they’ll train us. Pretty likely we won’t be stationed together, you know. Any of us. The empire likes us spread thin with lots of sentries in between.”  
A taller boy scooted forward. “Well, from what I’ve heard, advancement comes on the backs of others’ failures.”  
“Yeah, well. Things change,” Selznek grunted. He crossed his arms as his words drew several incredulous looks. Haxna was among them, but perhaps for a different reason. Her mother had often said much the same thing when she was little. The taller boy wasn’t finished.  
“Oh, sure, things will change. The stars will freeze over, Voltron will come back, and emperor Zarkon will fly away on a rainbow unicorn!” He scoffed. “Get real, Selznek. It’s been ten _thousand_ dekaphoebs. Nothing’s ever gonna change.”  
Selznek deflated and played with the empty metal tray, making it tap against the table.  
“Well, they should say something soon, unless they’re going to keep us hanging until tomorrow,” Haxna pointed out, holding down Selznek’s tray after a moment because the tapping sound was irritating her. He wrinkled his nose but when she let go he started up again, making her growl and grab it, jerking it from his grasp. “Stop that.”  
“Whoa, attitude. Did you get a wire knocked loose up there?”  
“What do you care? It was your buddy that decided to punch me into next phoeb!” She spat back, still growling.  
“We were in a ranking match! For military training! Besides, he’s not my friend.”  
“Oh, sure, just for training. That’s why _fifteen of you_ decided to gang up on me!” She snarled, clearly losing her temper. “In a fair fight I would beat every one of you into mulch, and don’t forget it!”  
“Which is why you were running away, right?” Smirked another cadet.  
“Don’t act like you didn’t-” Started another.  
“Kritan, I will break your neck and drink the marrow.”  
Haxna hit her hands on the table. “It might be victory or death, but that doesn’t mean you should run in blindly like an overconfident yalmor!” She gritted her teeth and wished it was time for bed so she could leave and ignore everyone else.  
“Says the skinny, cowardly-” Kritan began again before getting a thump on the head and the call for lights out, mercifully. 

As they all headed back for their bunk room, Haxna found herself falling into loose step beside the scruffy loudmouth from earlier. “What did you say your name was?”  
“Selznek,” He replied with a bit of a puffed up chest to disguise his thinness. “And you’re?”  
“Haxna, from the Deltona quadrant outpost...or I was.” Before pirates had chosen to wipe it off the map a dekaphoeb ago. She shook her head. “At least your name isn’t that common, eh?”  
He snorted. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”  
“More an observation. My name is pretty common, I’ve recently found out. It’s hard to get noticed that way.”  
“Yeah, unless you’re the only girl in a branch,” He scoffed.  
“Hence why I wanted to go into the military instead of staying in a colony. You know, full of girls?” She smirked a little. Maybe she could make a friend here after all. It would make it far easier to ascend the ranks if she had someone to work together with.  
“Trust me, I know,” He chuckled slightly.  
Haxna’s smirk widened. “What’s a matter? You have sisters?”  
“Five.” He flopped onto his bunk, the one directly below hers, and started taking his boots off.  
“Any brothers?” She asked, taking her own boots off before climbing up.  
“Nah. I ate em before they could outgrow me,” He teased, trying to keep his voice deadly serious.  
“You...ate them…” She tipped herself over so she could see him upside down from her bunk.  
“Yep. no siblings for you?”  
“No…”  
“Consider it a blessing.”  
“Oh, shut up and sleep.” They barely got situated before it was lights out.


	2. Reporting in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> krolia will feature more and more prominently as the story goes on, I promise!

Krolia took a deep breath that night, sitting in front of the console. This check-in was routine, but never easy. A painted face appeared on the small screen in front of her.  
“Krolia, report.”  
“Orientation day for the newest batch of recruits. Of the thirty, two have promise, possibly three.”  
“Three recruits in a single batch would be almost a miracle,” The man noted, serious faced as ever.  
“I’ll need to test their temperament before I commit. I’ve had first impressions be wrong before.”  
“You’ve been our best recruiter for dekaphoebs now, Krolia. I trust you to do whatever needs done to prove these recruits before you bring them for induction.”  
“Of course, sir.”  
“Something on your mind?” of course the man would notice her demeanor was off.  
“There’s a girl in this particular batch of cadets. She’s one of the ones I’ve got my eye on. There’s something more going on, but I haven’t gotten to the bottom of it yet.”  
“I see. Keep me apprised of the situation as it develops.”  
“Understood.” She logged out and quickly erased all traces of the contact, heaving a sigh of weariness. This never got any easier, and though she was good at recruiting, those she chose were no better than anyone else in the Blade of Marmora at staying alive. Some days it felt like she had lost more than she had saved from the empire. At least they died free? It was small consolation. Best not to dwell on it. Dawn came early and she had to be up beforehand.

The next day started at 0500 sharp, and the cadets groaned awake with a sort of alarm over the overhead system. Everyone was on their feet and doing their best to be presentable within a few dobashes, falling out to line up on the field from yesterday. There were groans and yawns throughout the group, and one big cadet even whined “ _Please_ tell me they’re gonna feed us first!” Haxna was just relieved that she had been too tired to change yesterday for bed, and except for a few wrinkles in her uniform and a cowlick or two in her hair she was presentable. After a few minutes of shuffling in the early morning cold, they all stiffened up and stood at attention as a senior officer walked by, hot drink in hand. He scanned across the nervous faces, then started to laugh. “This ain’t a recruitment video! Go eat, get a move on!” He kept laughing as they all piled for the door back to the mess hall, knowing they didn’t know yet that they were only supposed to listen to their teachers, nobody else. They’d get punished for disobeying, though not too badly. You had to get your entertainment somehow in a place like this, after all.

The cadets were all sitting down, shoveling down the same goo that they’d eaten all of yesterday once again when their main instructor arrived with a smile and a cup of something hot. That smile didn’t look very friendly, though…  
“Well, well, well...looks like the Master at Arms gets you for the morning, you insubordinate maggots.”  
There were immediate groans and protests. “You can’t be serious!”  
“Of course I’m serious. You are to take commands only from me unless you are told that someone else has permission to do so!” He looked around and saw that not one person had finished their plates. “Fall out to the training field in 3 dobashes!”

They barely made it back out to the field from yesterday, blinking in the dawn light.  
“Where is she?”  
“What do you think we’ll do?”  
“Do you think we’ll ever be told our ranks?”  
“Shh!” One cadet hissed as he saw her coming.  
Krolia crossed her arms and regarded the group, coming to a stop in front of them and staying silent for an uncomfortable amount of time. “...Would someone like to explain to me why I was called out here to discipline an entire class at 0530 on your _second day_?”  
“Um”  
“Well, you see…”  
“That officer lied to us!” The protests grew from several throats.  
“We thought we were following orders, we swear!”  
“Stop, stop. I’ve heard enough.” Not again. They always think it’s funny to prey on the naivete of the freshmen, don’t they? “Lucky for you, I already have a punishment lined up. You’ll be cleaning latrines for this mistake.”  
“Ew!”  
“Latrines?! You mean toilets!”  
“YUCK!”  
“You can’t be serious!”  
“That’s so gross!”  
The girl, Krolia noticed, just sighed in resignation and hung her head as the boys protested the drudgery.  
“You’ll have a lot to adjust to in the military if this is the worst of your worries. About-face and get moving, there’s a lot of work to be done in there!”

There was a lot of griping and moaning from the cadets as they gathered supplies and started in on cleaning one of the large latrines with chemicals and a hose. Once they were suitably occupied, Krolia slipped away to get back to the duties she should have been taking care of. Once they realized the work was easy and a bit boring, and that they were unsupervised, it barely took a few ticks before Haxna found herself soaked by a careless aim of the hose. The boys were shocked when she turned and pounced on the one who’d done it, getting a few good hits in before standing and kicking him squarely between the legs, making him curl up in pain. She shook off the water and glared around at the circle of observers. “And the same to any of you! Don’t mess with me!”  
“Anger issues…” Muttered one of them to her left and she whipped around to glare at him.  
“When you have to get laughed out of five recruiting offices just to get here, you don’t let anything, or _anyone_ , stand in the way.” With that, she grabbed the hose herself and went back to work, hoping she’d either dry or get to change before lunch came around. 

It took them all morning, with no more incidents, to finish the job, and they straggled off to lunch when their instructor fetched them. He eyed the damp cadet with some confusion but let her pass. The usual food griping began again as they got another helping of goo.  
“What even is this?”  
“Why’s it green?”  
“And it tastes like broccoli and feet or something…”  
“Wallpaper paste,” Volunteered one boy, poking it.  
“Huh?”  
“It tastes like broccoli and wallpaper paste.”  
“Ew. don’t they have anything else to feed us?”  
“I doubt it,” Grumbled another boy, swallowing a mouthful with difficulty. “Hey, how do you know what wallpaper paste tastes like?”  
“Oh, uh…” The boy looked away. “I may have been an adventurous eater as a cub.”  
“What else have you eaten? Snails? Mud?”  
“Hey, snails are good, you just have to cook them right!” He protested.  
“Dude. Gross.”  
“-Hey, you’re that girl that almost took Kitik’s eye out aren’t you?” Asked another cadet passing by the table. He’d been in the half of their class that had been cleaning the other latrine.  
“Well, I wasn’t really going to hurt him that bad,” She protested, playing with one of the little nubs she had on the back of her head that would hopefully grow into rat tails someday.  
“Well, why not?” He asked, sitting beside her. “It would have kept him off you permanently.”  
“Why should I hurt my fellow soldiers for what was really just a prank? If they were really trying to hurt me, maybe, but I don’t want to hurt someone who hasn’t hurt me.”  
“Well, I guess we know who’s dropping out first,” He snorted, starting to turn away as the table laughed at his statement like it was a joke. He didn’t even see the fist coming, just found himself laying on the ground a second later with his nose stinging. He touched it and was surprised to find blood. He scrambled back to his feet, bristling. “You wanna go?!”  
“Try me, idiot. You know what I’m capable of.”  
“And I know it’s not enough!” He spat at her, staring her down. Another boy grabbed his arm and tried to sit him back down. “Chill, Hurxor, they’re gonna give us more laps like yesterday!”  
He pulled his arm free and glared at her for a few more ticks, teeth bared. “You’re dead, kitten. Watch your back.”


	3. The Mysterious Koh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> bonus points to anyone who can guess what card game they're playing!

In the wardroom where the officers ate and took breaks, a few of the men were sitting around and playing some sort of card game. “Hey lieutenant! Krolia! Why don’t you come play with us?” The Quartermaster invited, waving a hand.  
“Did you hear about that scuffle with the new recruits?” Asked a more junior officer at the table, picking a card to put on the table. “That’s thirty-one for two.” Krolia perked up at the news, her list of contraband from the new recruits forgotten as she set her tablet aside. “Oh?”  
“Yeah, looks like that girl’s gonna cause some trouble before she washes out.” The Quartermaster chuckled and laid down an 8, to which the next man at the table placed a seven and announced “Fifteen for two.”  
Krolia reluctantly trailed over to sit at the table, waiting for the hand to be over so she could be dealt in. “When did this scuffle happen? And where?”  
“The southmost latrine, about a varga before lunch,” The Quartermaster grunted, frowning at his newly dealt hand. “Apparently one of the other cadets caught her with the hose. Accident or prank, doesn’t matter. She just about clawed his eye out, so I heard, and definitely tried to kick his beans back where they came from, if you get my meaning.” There was a collective hiss and cringe around the table from the other men.  
One of the lunch servers came in at the tail end of his statement and said “That new girl just hit another cadet at lunch. Almost broke his nose.”  
“Just now?” Krolia asked, back on her feet and her hand forgotten on the table, face up. Twice in half a day? What was that girl thinking?!  
“She’ll definitely need disciplining if this keeps up,” Grumbled the CMO behind his cards.  
“Or a commission,” Praised the Quartermaster, having a look at the four cards the others had tossed together into a second hand for him.  
“You’ll be handling this, won’t you, Krolia? Females do seem to communicate better,” Commented the station master with a smirk.  
The Master at Arms ignored the jab and strode out after the lunch server, her face hard. 

Haxna was sitting with her back to the door, once again playing with one of her two little nubs of pigtails with one six-fingered lilac hand when she stiffened at the sound of her name. She turned slowly to see the master at arms approaching her. “Yes, lieutenant?” She managed to squeak out of a mouth gone suddenly dry.  
“On your feet. We need to talk.”  
_OhGodsOhGodsOhGodsOhGods_ “...Yessir.”  
“Ma’am.”  
“Oh, right...ma’am.” She got up with rather shaky knees and managed to follow the woman as she turned sharply around and led her out of the mess hall and down the corridor.  
“Um...ma’am...where are we going?”  
“Somewhere quiet,” Was all the answer she received as they continued through the complex a short way, reaching a small door, which she opened and gestured inside. The room was small, and, like all the rooms so far, spartan, with a single chair and table on one side and a desk on the other. An office, then.  
“You...you’re not kicking me out, are you?” She gasped in sudden panic. To her, the MA’s office could only mean one thing. “I didn’t do anything wrong! They started it!”  
“You aren’t being expelled. Take a seat, cadet.” The girl was shaking badly enough by now that Krolia was sure she’d fall over with a single poke. She managed to collapse into the only reachable chair.  
“I don’t want to have to fight,” She started to explain, “But they just won’t leave me alone…”  
“ _Relax_ ” Krolia ordered the cadet, sitting on the corner of her desk rather than trying to pull out the other chair. “I didn’t bring you here to reprimand you. I’m just trying to understand...why did you come here, Haxna?”  
“Well…” The cadet looked at her lap, making herself look even smaller and younger than she really was. “I don’t have anything left at home. My dad died before I was born and mama...the pirates got her when my colony was destroyed, a dekaphoeb ago. I’ve been bouncing from colony to colony since, trying to get into the military. Mama told me to find a man whose name starts with ‘Koh’, but it turns out that’s really common…” She trailed off. As she was staring fixedly at her knees, she missed the glint of surprise and recognition in Krolia’s eyes. It was surely impossible, but...could she have meant Kolivan?  
“Do you know what position this man holds?” She pressed, hoping to disprove her thoughts.  
The girl shook her head sadly. “I just figured he must be in the military somehow. All the really important people are.”  
Well, this was certainly far sooner than she’d wanted to have this discussion, but- “I know the man you’re looking for.” The girl’s head shot up and she held out a hand of caution. “But he’s in an incredibly specialized branch-” in a manner of speaking- “and contact won’t be easy.”  
“You know him? You have to help me contact him! I have to know why my mother wanted me to find him!” Krolia once again waved for Haxna to relax and sit back down.  
“Slow down. It’s going to take a lot of qualifying to get you into his office. But I can help.”  
“Just tell me what I need to do!”  
“Just relax, and trust me.” She leaned forward slightly. “Now, what’s this about two separate scuffles in under 5 vargas?”  
Haxna explained about Kitik and the hose, and Hurxor and the mouthing off. “I swear the only decent one is Selznek, and I bet that’s because he had five sisters to teach him manners,” She concluded, nodding sharply.  
“I’ve heard enough. Unless they threaten to start the fight, I want you to keep your hands to yourself from here on out, understood? One way to get into your man’s office is a clean record.” Oh, boy, _that_ was the furthest the truth would stretch without becoming one-dimensional. But it was true a cleaner record would make her easier to disappear later.  
“Well, one of them kinda already did…” She fidgeted. “Hurxor threatened me. I’m afraid he might try something if I’m ever alone…”  
“What did he say to you?” And why didn’t you bring this up sooner?  
“He said ‘you’re dead’ and to watch myself…”  
“I’ll speak with him.”  
“Are you sure that will help? He seemed pretty serious about it.”  
“I’ll ensure it’s enough,” Krolia told her, voice firm. Haxna stared at her for a couple seconds, then asked, “You’re not gonna kill him, are you?”  
That got a split-second look of surprise to flash across the woman’s face.  
“No, cadet. I’m not going to kill him. I may be an officer, but I’m not a murderer.”  
“But you’ve killed people before. You’ve got that look in your eyes. Like you’re hollow inside. It’s creepy.”  
The woman blinked and sat up a little. “You...do understand what people do in the armed forces, don’t you?”  
“Yeah...I know I’ll probably look like you someday. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”  
She regarded the young woman for a long, silent moment. “You’re free to go, cadet. Thank you for being honest with me.” as she watched Haxna leave, Krolia couldn’t help but frown in worry. Things had just gotten more complicated than she had anticipated…


	4. The Gutters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> do things always go from bad to worse? yeah, mostly.

“Are you cadets sick of waiting for your rankings yet?” Krolia called as she reached the group standing on the field from the day before.  
A chorus of emphatic yeses almost made her smirk.  
“That’s what I thought. Step forward if your name is read.” She held up a tablet and read off six names, from last place to first. Zephex, Kritan, Grawlx, Xerphin, Tenzi. Hurxor. The six leaders.  
Then came their second in command, ordered to line up behind their leaders in order. Netsen, Koras, Reticur, Vepret, Zelphane. Haxna.  
Haxna was a second.  
Under Hurxor.  
Haxna started to move to line up as it registered whose back she was staring at. She stopped in her tracks a couple paces out of line and blurted a loud and clearly horrified “WHAT?!”  
After their earlier conversation, Krolia wasn’t surprised, but she simply frowned. “You are Hurxor’s second in command. Fall in line, cadet.”  
The look of betrayal in the girl’s eyes was obvious, almost seeming to say ‘are you trying to get me killed?’ but she finally moved into her proper place in the lines. The next to line up behind her was Kitik, then Selznek, then the tiny and timid Geratz last of all. The best leader got the 3 worst cadets, to turn them around if possible. Haxna momentarily couldn’t believe selznek had gotten next to last until she remembered it had been him that tackled Kitik off the platform within the first few ticks, and that had knocked them both out of the running. Right.  
Kritan looked over his group with a nod and turned to the master at arms. “What will we be doing now that we’re in teams?”  
“Today, you’ll be running the Gutters,” She informed them, that same serious look on her face as her gaze swept over them all. “It’s one of the easiest courses we have, but don’t let that fool you. You’ll have to work together to get out, or you’ll be stuck until the night janitors come and bail you out.”  
There was a chorus of groans as Krolia led the cadets not to another field but to a large warehouse. Clearly they wouldn’t get to watch the teams go through, not that it would give much advantage either way. An ensign stood waiting to outfit the first team with small packs, not telling the cadets what was inside each one as they were passed out. Once that was done, he opened a lift and motioned them to get in.  
Once the doors closed, haxna opened her small pack to see what was inside. A small bit of rope and a piece of tarp? The others were looking through theirs as well, and Geratz got a small, nearly powerless balmeran crystal, while Selznek got a crowbar. The others seemed to just be stuffed to make them all weigh the same.  
“We’re doomed,” The smallest cadet groaned, holding his crystal in his palm.  
“No, we’re not. We just have to work together.” Haxna swallowed thickly, almost literally swallowing her pride, and turned to Hurxor. “You’re the squad leader. What’s our plan?”  
Before he could reply, the lift stopped and opened, revealing a wall of rock or concrete with a gap about a forearm’s length high off the floor. The only way forward was to crawl.  
“The plan is for you to keep your mouths shut and follow me,” Hurxor grunted, kneeling down to see how far they’d have to belly crawl. He quickly saw they wouldn’t be able to get through wearing their packs, so he dropped his in the lift and ordered the others to do the same.  
“Wait! My pack has rope and a tarp, and he has a crowbar. This could be useful! We shouldn’t just leave it, we were given it for a reason!” Haxna protested, unwilling to put down her pack.  
“Just get rid of it!” He snarled, taking the pack from her hands and throwing it into the corner of the lift before getting down to start crawling through the space in the rock.  
She waited for him to get far enough in that he couldn’t see her, then pulled the rope out and tied the coils around her body so they wouldn’t be in the way as she started to crawl for herself. The other items were abandoned.  
It didn’t take much slithering on their bellies to encounter a vertical wall that allowed them no further. Hurxor reached it first and hit it repeatedly as if it would miraculously budge under his fists.  
“Hey, Hurxor-”  
“Captain,” Snarled the stuck up cadet.  
“ _Captain_ ,” selznek repeated in a snarky tone. “There’s a notch up here. I think we can pry it open with the crowbar. I’m going back for it.”  
“Was that a question?” Hurxor asked in a warning tone. There was a sharp sigh that wasn’t quite a hiss.  
“Yes.”  
“Get moving.”  
There was a bit of scraping and shuffling as Selznek backed out, still stuck on his belly. Haxna gritted her teeth and spoke up while they waited for his return.  
“Hey, _Captain_ , you know your real designation is just squad leader, right? You’re not over all thirty of us,” She growled.  
“Thank Mercy,” Kitik muttered behind her.  
“I’m here to follow your lead, Hurxor, but as your second in command it’s my job to make sure we’re working together. We have to if we want out of here.”  
“Oh, getting brave now we’re all stuck in a hole?” He sneered, ignoring her words completely. “I could still smother you right here!”  
“Well if I don’t get brave we’re ALL going to be stuck in here!” She protested. “Thank Mercy this isn’t the real world, nobody’d be coming to save your sorry hide then!”  
“If this were the real world, I’d have sentries under me that wouldn’t back-talk-”  
“Knock it off!” Selznek barked suddenly as he returned, scooting on his back so he could get enough leverage to use the crowbar properly. Once he fit it into the notch and pulled, something gave with a loud _chunk_ and the wall lifted away, allowing them to crawl out and stand at last. They found themselves on the edge of a cliff, with the sound of running water below. Given how dark it was, the water couldn’t be seen, but it sounded deep, fast, and decently far below them.  
“Can we climb down? Are there any handholds?”  
“Not that I see…”  
“I’ve got rope,” Haxna piped up. “Is there anything to tie it to?”  
“Not really...but if one of us goes down first we’ll know if it’s safe to jump,” Kitik pointed out.  
“Ooh, good idea,” Hurxor perked up, turning to Haxna. “You’re light. You go first.”  
Haxna immediately looked at Geratz, who was clearly smaller. But she did already have the rope tied around her body somewhat like a harness. “Okay, ready?”  
He let her start rappelling down the cliff, one hop, two hops, and when she pushed off the third time, the rope went slack.  
For a moment, she was weightless, and had just enough time for a short shriek before plunging into ice-cold, ink black water.


End file.
